


An angel's song

by Lavender_Lotions36



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Small Town, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, Chaptered, Cute Byun Baekhyun, Cute Kids, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Growing Up Together, High School, Learning Disabilities, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Physical Abuse, Protective Park Chanyeol, Romance, Sad and Happy, Speech Disorders, True Love, kids being assholes, there's a turtle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29723469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavender_Lotions36/pseuds/Lavender_Lotions36
Summary: Baekhyun is a beautiful boy but with learning disabilities and a speech disorder that no one cared or wanted to understand. That's until a new, shy boy moves into the tiny neighborhood and falls hopelessly soft for his bullied and struggling classmate. Chanyeol finds himself amazed at Baekhyun's positivity, outlook and most importantly, his passionate singing everyone ignores and swears to protect the younger whenever he needed it.But will their love prevail in the judgmental, small town where Baekhyun's an outcast in or will Chanyeol succumb to the hate, social pressure and desire to fit in? Leaving Baekhyun abandoned with no one to love him for who he truly is?
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Oh Sehun
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	1. Talk - 11

**Author's Note:**

> So he we go again, another chaptered work but I really hope you enjoy it! Leave your thoughts down below!

Baekhyun wasn’t good at expressing himself. His crooked tongue gave him a horrible lisp, his crooked teeth an embarrassing smile and his stupid chords like to give out like a dying battery. He had a club though, a club nobody joined and he was the solitary member of. He strolled away from the plain, suburban town and into an old house where land developers haven’t broken ground on yet. The family left a treehouse, hidden in their lucious and untrimmed backyard so he hid there after school. 

Inside, he had inflated a cheap pink sofa from the toy section of the supermarket in which his overworked and tired mother spent most of her hours. There was a dart board with no darts to throw, a stack of cards he never touched and a journal he wrote in every day. If his mouth wouldn’t work properly, then he could write down all his complex thoughts down in the journal passed down from his recently deceased grandfather. 

In the treehouse, Baekhyun watched the group of kids play hopscotch on the sidewalks, build little hockey rinks on the street and play tag around the block. Baekhyun watched out the little window of the hidden treehouse happily, curious to what it’d be like to have a real friend in the flesh, not just some pineapples and watermelons with googly eyes and silly string glued on to appear like a face. 

He didn’t consider himself lonely per se, just uninvited or forgotten by the neighbors children. That didn’t mean he had nobody, he had his pet turtle, Maurice, some fruit friends and a little bird that followed him around every morning for some fresh seed. He’d eagerly place his hand out the window and the brown birdie could come right to his open palm and nip at the seed with trust.  
Internally, he thought he’d had to visit the library someday to figure out what kind of bird this was. Small, round, cute and trusting, it was surely one of his best friends (after his turtle of course).

But one day, while staring out the window to a clear, summer sky, a moving truck drove into town which gathered the attention of every child on the populated block. Inside the homes, parents were preparing welcoming meals to give to the new couple arriving right by close to Baekhyun’s house. Kids surrounded the moving truck with their toys and climbed over one another to see the new kid step out of his parents black truck. 

Once he came out, Baekhyun was entranced. He was tall for his age, lanky and with long black hair, a red checkered shirt and some dark blue jeans. He was slim, more defined with less baby fat than the other kids in town, maybe he was older. When the boy stepped out of the car, he waved kindly to the curious kids around the moving truck before being ushered to the home by his parents. 

That’s when Baekhyun’s happiness washed off his young face and shifted to a deadly mix of sadness and rage. 

They were heading right for the abandoned house where Baekhyun’s beloved tree house was. The home outside of his usually empty and bland home, a place he couldn’t part with. 

He climbed down from the little house on the ladder he had made and growled to the surprised parents. Their son hid behind his father’s freakishly tall legs, maybe that’s where his odd shaped son got them from. Baekhyun stomped his foot and the parents turned stern. 

“She didn’t mention there was a homeless kid here.” The father spoke in confusion.

“That treehouse is my home!” Baekhyun shouted but knew the response already.

The mother stepped closer and leaned her ear in, “I’m sorry. Could you repeat that?”

Baekhyun sighed, he’d been through this many times, “That treehouse!” He pointed to the old structure almost obstructed by overgrown hanging trees, “My second home!”

Though he spoke slowly, the parents still took some moments to comprehend his words. The father stroked his chin while the mother leaned in to whisper something before leaning back down to Baekhyun’s level. 

“Sweetie. Speak slower and clearer.”

“Second. Home!” 

“Oh? You don’t have a home?” The mother looked worried.  
“Second!” Baekhyun said and lifted his fingers up to make a two. He then pointed to his real home just two houses over and then pointed back here. 

“Oh? You like hanging out there?” She said and he nodded firmly.  
“Well. This is our home now.” The father spoke sternly, “I think it's time to get back to yours.”

“Dear!” The mother said, “He likes it there. Let him visit it from time to time, eh?”  
“But this is our property and I’m not going to be housing this stray like a lost mutt.”

The parents continued to raise their voices at each other and Baekhyun lost interest in what they were saying. Instead, he made his way to search for their shy son who timidly stepped away from behind his father’s long legs. 

“Hi!” Baekhyun said cheerfully and offered his hand out, “Byun Baekhyun!”  
“Okay. Bam Baekham?” The son said, confused. 

“No! BYUN BAEKHYUN!” Baekhyun tried to emphasize the y’s and n’s more. 

“Oh! Baekhyun.” The son nodded and repeated the name on his tongue a few times more, “Baekhyun Baekhyun Baekhyun… I’m Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol.”

They shook hands and when Chanyeol let go, it was dirtied in dirt and chipped wood. He wiped his hands on his dark blue jeans and chuckled nervously at the boy who couldn’t stop smiling, it made his chubby cheeks flare it even more. 

“Friends?”

Chanyeol timidly nodded and turned back to face his father who was lost in conversation with his mother. 

“Friends. But not now, I have to unpack.”

Chanyeol left and Baekhyun stood there hoping he’d come back outside shortly but after quite a few minutes of waiting and with the family busy inside, Baekhyun sighed and retreated back into his treehouse and watched their shadows in the windows from afar. He’d do it until his mother got off work well beyond hours that a child should be outside and hollered for his name. Before that would happen, he stared peacefully out the window with the turtle on his lap and a juicebox in the other hand. 

Chanyeol had said he’d be his friend. Even though it was cut off very short, that was still the kindest interaction he’d ever had with another child around the block.  
Baekhyun giggled and clutched to his heart after putting the juicebox down on the side table. 

He hoped Chanyeol was different, hoped he was the special light that would shift Baekhyun’s solitary life.

After a day at school filled with exhausted teachers sick of explaining the same math formula to him, over and over again, Baekhyun was let out of the suffocating halls and classrooms to fresh air. There was nothing that would compare to the raw beauty of the outdoors. If he had his way, everything would be outside, in the fresh air of the small and quiet town where everyone knew the other, where life was peaceful and friendly. At least that’s what Baekhyun had observed, sure everybody knew him but not personally, only referred to him as the kid with the weird tongue.  
But Baekhyun’s style of speech was his own, his choice of hiding away in the treehouse and adventuring into the flat and buzzing meadows was of his own wishes. Sometimes he thought he should change those wishes so he could finally learn what four corners was, the rules of soccer and the hype of hide and seek but he stuck to what he knew. 

Baekhyun counted his footsteps from school to the house where his treehouse was. Well, he tried but forgot how to say numbers over one hundred so he estimated it was some very large and long number. He never really understood the concepts of math all too well, leading every teacher to nearly smash their head into the walls out of frustration. The boy never learned, they said, Baekhyun thought he’d just have to pay attention harder and then he’d learn. 

He was optimistic he would begin to understand even if they weren’t.

When he got to the front lawn of the home, the treehouse was barred off with a newly built fence that the father was still working on. It was a classic wooden painted white, akin to all the other homes in their monochrome and simple neighborhood. 

Baekhyun cheerfully skipped with his hands on his pink backpack straps to the father and smiled wide. 

But when he did, the father tilted his head in curiosity.  
“Never been to a dentist. They’d slap some braces on you asap. You need it desperately.”  
“This gives me a special smile!” 

“Yeah whatever, kid.” The dad didn’t even attempt to ask what he said, “You know, if this is about your stupid treehouse then go talk to Chanyeol. It's his play-yard now and I don’t know if he wants to let strangers in.”

“But we’re friends!”

“You’re not fwends yet.” He said mockingly, “Go talk to him.”  
Baekhyun, determined as always, took on the challenge and came up with an idea in his excited head. He gripped onto his backpack straps and eagerly marched away into the little meadows surrounding the town. 

Once in a field full of beautiful flowers blooming brightly in the middle of summer, he took the backpack off and started picking out flowers and stuffing them and their roots in the glass jars he carried around in case he wanted to bring a pretty flower or little bug with him. He picked lilacs, feminine pink poses, golden sunflowers and others he forgot the name of. Whatever they were, Chanyeol would surely love the thought of these gifts. 

So when he was marching back to Chanyeol’s home, he was delighted to see the boy sitting on the porch with a pencil and sketchbook in hand. He was gazing up at the sunset sky, just turning into a dark night and his brown eyes were sparkling at the shimmering sky. 

Baekhyun waved from the sidewalk and Chanyeol put down his pencil and sketchbook. Chanyeol climbed down from the porch and smiled at a cheery Baekhyun. 

“Hey? What did you come for? Wanna cloud watch together?”

Baekhyun politely nodded no and gestured toward the treehouse. Chanyeol lifted his brows curiously. 

“Oh? You want to go in there? Isn’t that thing super old and lame?”  
Baekhyun affirmed by nodding no, “Never! Come see how I made it!”  
Chanyeol dug the keys to the gate from his burgundy cargo shorts and let Baekhyun into the backyard. Immediately, the eager boy ran around the yard which had recently been cut so the weeds weren’t overgrowing. He jumped around the yard with glee and urged Chanyeol to hurry forward. 

“Why did you cut the weeds?”

“Huh? The weeds? Oh. My parents thought they could lose me if they were so tall.”

“But that made them fun! Hiding!” 

Chanyeol shrugged as Baekhyun hurried up the wobbly ladder up to the treehouse.  
“If you think so.” Chanyeol said before trying to get on the ladder but he quickly got nervous when it began to shake. 

“Sorry!” Baekhyun called from inside, “I’m off now.”

“Sowwy.” Chanyeol chuckled lightly to himself and started climbing the short journey. When he got in, he couldn’t have expected the boy to create a little hideaway so cozy and lovely. 

There were old white Christmas lights across the ceiling, handmade paper snowflakes and flowers also hung from above. There was a cheap but comfortable for two inflatable sofa by the side of the window and a little end table with some fruity scented candles. There was also a watermelon, pineapple and school bag shoved off the side where a pile of hand knitted blankets were in case of cold winter nights. The space was tiny yet Baekhyun had managed to squeeze in a display table for flowers in blue pots, books about forest animals, strawberry juice boxes and a VHS with some boxes by the side. 

“No way. You did all this?” Chanyeol said in wonder. 

Baekhyun giggled and nodded. He was practically bouncing on his little feet while digging out the things from his backpack. He put some fresh flowers in mason jars into Chanyeol’s crowded arms as gifts. Then, he pulled out a jar with a large, green grasshopper inside and Chanyeol jumped back. 

“Scared?”

Chanyeol cleared his throat, “Kinda. I hate them.”  
“Oh. Sorry.” Baekhyun said as he opened the jar for the grasshopper to hop out the window and he waved it goodbye with a little pout.

“Well now it's in my backyard!”  
“It’s okay. It won’t get inside.”  
“Sorry to ask but,” Chanyeol set down the jars of flowers to have open hands again, “Why do you talk like that?”

“Hm? Well apparently, there’s something wrong with my tongue, throat and something else I can’t remember. But I don’t mind! It sounds different.”  
Chanyeol took a minute to understand what Baekhyun had just said but eventually got it. 

“Wow, that’s a lot of confidence for someone with a disability.”

“Disability?” Baekhyun's big puppy eyes shifted and Chanyeol felt an urge to comfort him, finding those droopy orbs looking sad so uncalled for.  
“Well… Aren’t you disabled. Don’t you have a speech problem?”  
“Oh. I just thought it was different? I didn't know it was wrong?”  
“It’s not wrong, it's just…” Chanyeol scraped the thought, “Let’s talk about something else?”

“Like what?”  
“How did you make all this?”

It turned into night with Baekhyun talking slowly, trying not to let his lisp or tongue get in the way of talking to a new friend. It was the first time he had another sit on his uncomfortable pink sofa and eagerly listen to him. Most others would shy away and tune out his words after a barrage of questions. They simply gave up on understanding his differences and left. So Baekhyun smiled like the happy, bright kid he was at heart when Chanyeol insisted to stay the whole night in the cozy little treehouse under the blankets talking about school, life and play in comfort.  
Only when his dad called him did Chanyeol force himself to leave the warmth of the little cabin, and vice versa for Baekhyun once his mother was off work. They couldn’t describe the fuzzy, sweet feeling that flooded their bellies or the disappointment that came one they weren’t facing each other.

Whatever it was, Baekhyun couldn’t be more glad he’d found someone willing to listen. 

When Baekhyun woke up, he barely tugged himself out of bed, hating the bright early morning where his eyes could barely comprehend all the sunlight seeping into his window. He groggily put on some clothes and made his way sluggishly to school where it was another day of teachers and students losing patience trying to speak with him. 

In English, Baekhyun was called up to act alongside some other kids. They were reciting the paragraph of the assigned book this month and he tried to hide his mouth with the book while up in front of everyone. 

“Okay, Baekhyun.” The female teacher said, “Your turn.” 

When Baekhyun focused his eyes on the words, they were scrambling into one to his eyes. He struggled to comprehend when one sentence began, ended and what those words were. He nervously spoke out the words, reading them much slower and painfully incorrect than the other students. He could hear the deafening silence across the classroom and the teacher impatiently tapping her foot against the wooden floor. Once he was finished reading out his lines wrong, he gave a big smile to the classroom who began chuckling at his naivety. 

“Okay, Baekhyun. We can work on those lines after class okay? For now why don’t you switch places with another student?”

“I can do it!” Chanyeol eagerly raised his long arm up.  
“The new student.” She smiled softly, “How kind.”  
“No. I can work with him.”

The other kids snickered and started whispering to one another. Chanyeol sat in confusion at the laughter and frowned to the teacher who she herself had trouble hiding her bewilderment. 

“Chanyeol. He is a difficult student, with some issues you can’t tackle. Just let the staff handle it okay?”

“But I understand him. Why can’t I try?”  
“Oh sure. Try but it’ll be very difficult.”

“I can hear.” Baekhyun said softly but the teacher, classmates and even Chanyeol ignored his quiet words. Baekhyun stood in front of everyone, embarrassed at how he was treated like a difficult question that no one wanted to solve, even try. He was just a boy, a boy with thoughts, a heart and dreams like anyone else but somehow, he was seen as a different entity entirely. 

“Let me work with him, okay? I can try.”

The teacher secretly breathed a sigh of relief, trying to teach Baekhyun these words and math formulas he couldn’t understand was an annoying blight in her job, something she would gladly throw to some other poor student naïve enough to try. 

On that day afterschool, Baekhyun and Chanyeol walked home together. Baekhyun held Maurice in his hands and Chanyeol carried their textbooks, they were to study together in the treehouse. They walked in a comfortable silence, taking in the gentle breeze rustling the trees and the sounds of happy giggling from children nearby playing on their front lawns. 

Until Baekhyun flinched and Chanyeol became alerted. The boy clutching one hand on his head and holding his odd pet in the other. 

“What happened?”

Another thing whacked Baekhyun in the head and Chanyeol turned around to see a bundle of children laughing with stones in their little hands. They flicked the stones at Baekhyun’s soft hair and left little chips in his head. Chanyeol marched back toward the group of boys and huffed to them. 

“Hey cut it out. He’s just another kid and he’s holding his pet.”

“A pet only a freak like them would love. If we could, we’d hit that stupid old turtle but he guards that thing with his life.”

“Don’t! He’s innocent!”  
“He’s weird.” A boy said and didn’t seem phased by Chanyeol’s confrontation at all.  
“No he is not.”

“Oh don’t even deny it. The kid’s is a weirdo who spends all day in a rotten house with a turtle and imaginary fruit friends. Chanyeol, for your own sake. Don’t get involved with him, we don’t take kindly to anyone playing nice with our kicking bag.”

Chanyeol grabbed the pile of little stones of their hands and flung them all to the group. They winced and rubbed the stones off their faces which had little red cuts from the sharp ends of the stones. 

“What the heck man?” One boy shouted but Chanyeol had already turned his back.  
“Leave Baekhyun alone.”

In the treehouse late at night, they were again tangled under cozy hand knitted blankets that apparently Baekhyun had made, learning from his mother on the rare day she had off. The boy was writing down some notes in his book and Chanyeol peaked over to see that the writing was almost backwards, crooked compared to his. Baekhyun had let Chanyeol bring some of his likes and activities into the little house like his sketchbook and a book teaching about weather patterns, clouds formations and how the sky functioned.

“Is something wrong with my writing?”  
“No. Just, it looks different.”  
“Is that bad?”  
“No no! I like it.” Chanyeol said honestly, “I like you.”

He tugged Baekhyun closer into his arms and chest. Eventually, the younger boy rested his head on Chanyeol’s chest and casually read the textbook and started yawning. 

“Hey Baekhyun?”

“Hm?”

“If anyone ever tries to hurt you or Maurice or anything of yours again, call me, I’ll always hear you.”  
“You’ll listen?” Baekhyun looked to him with innocent, youthful and hopeful eyes, “Even if you don’t understand?”  
“I understand you, Baekhyun. I’ll always have my ears open for you. For you, anything.”  
“Well this is kind of ridiculous but I’ve always wanted to be a singer but they say no one will listen to my voice if they can’t understand me.” Baekhyun mumbled.  
“I will. I’ll listen to you anytime, Baekhyun.”

At their young age, they didn’t understand the complexities of love or serious relationships but they knew about crushes, about loving actions and kindness. So when Chanyeol tenderly kissed each one of Baekhyun’s knuckles, the boys both came to a sweet realization, about why they’d been feeling sweet butterflies flying around their tummies whenever they were alone together. The secret time spent alone and away from prying eyes was precious and these light, feather kisses on his knuckles only made Baekhyun more excited to what more they could do.  
Baekhyun wasn’t thinking of other kids and their reactions but Chanyeol was, even if he didn’t want to. 

How could the new kid like him fit in while developing a deep love for the town’s laughing stock? The outcast? The weird kid? Even if he thought he looked, sounded and talked like a fallen angel, banished from heaven for the disabilities he didn’t choose to own, Chanyeol loved him. 

But would people love Chanyeol or their relationship?


	2. Math - 11

“Okay. When I hold up these cards, you tell me what they multiple to, alright?”  
The tutor carefully said to Baekhyun as they sat at the kitchen table. It was all white, tucked into a corner where they sat with piles of cards, multiplication tables and notes the tutor would scribble on whenever Baekhyun answered. 

“Five multiplied by four.”

“Hm… nine?”

“No Baekhyun. What is five multiplied by?” He emphasized. 

“Nine?” Baekhyun shrugged, looking at the tired and dejected tutor wondering what he did wrong. 

“Remember? Plus means add, multiply means how many groups of? How many groups or piles of five do four make?”  
“I answered.” Baekhyun murmured, “Nine.”

The tutor grabbed his black ballpoint pen and wrote down some sentences in his yellow notebook. Baekhyun’s mother stood not far, clutching onto her wallet of minimal cash and watched in disappointment. The tutor started gathering his tools and Baekhyun seemed confused. 

“Is there anything I did wrong, sir?” He said innocently.  
“No no Baekhyun. You did what you know.” 

With that, Baekhyun smiled and hopped down from the dining chair and approached his stressed mother. 

“Can I go play with Chanyeol now?”

“Sure. Whatever.” She waved him off without ever facing him.

Baekhyun skipped out of the house on his partially ripped red sneakers gleefully. From inside, his mother watched from the tiny kitchen window, the curtains old and in dire need of a patch up. She shut the rotting curtains and tugged her grey housecoat tighter and saw the tutor standing by the door, notes in hand. 

“How is he?” 

“I don’t know why you keep trying, Mrs. Byun. He’s got dyscalculia. He cannot understand basic math. I even left my notes in plain sight of him, he glanced over but said nothing. He’s probably also dyslexic. But then again, I’m not qualified with that one. Speak with the reading disability agents.”

“How many people are you guys going to send me off to? All I want is proper help for my son! Any sort of cure that can help his brain actually work properly for once!”

He sighed, “Unfortunately. Learning disabilities can’t be treated, only lessened with special teachings.” 

“So that’s it?” She scoffed, “You’re just gonna waltz into my house, tell me my kid is wrong and leave? No aid, no tips or tricks on how to get him to pass school? Something any kid should be able to do?”

“Mrs. Byun. I hear your frustration but he’s only a child. For now, school is simple enough that I’m sure he’ll pass. But you can contact us when he ages, in case he needs any special education.” 

With that, he slipped her a sleek business card for the association and shut the door. She watched him leave in his elegant, slick black suit and into his car. She sneered in envy, of how much quicker she’d make it home to help Baekhyun with homework if only she had a vehicle. 

But she didn’t, so she slumped down by the old white kitchen cupboards and cupped her aging face in her hands. 

Why did Baekhyun have to be like this? 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol left the corner store with bottles of sugary pop that their parents would forbid. But Chanyeol had begged for a little allowance, and his busy parents just tossed him some coin and let him run free. Baekhyun carried a fizzy pink drink but he struggled to open the metal lid. 

“Let me.” Chanyeol offered and set his drinks on a bench they had walked by.  
Baekhyun took a seat to watch Chanyeol try and struggle with the bottle cap. He snickered and Chanyeol looked embarrassed. 

“You’re stronger!” He leaned in closer, “Open it!” 

Chanyeol half ignored what he said and shook the bottle in frustration. Then, he twisted the lid off for one more try and finally shot it open. But the bubbling fizz from his shaking made it spray like a leaky faucet all over the bench, the pavement and their pants. Baekhyun squealed and wrapped his hands around the bottle’s hole to stop the pressure from escaping.

“Why did you just stare?!”  
“Huh? I what?”  
“Stare.” Baekhyun reiterated.  
“Oh. I dunno. Got caught off guard. But look at me, I’m wet!” 

While Chanyeol was busy digging through his deep jean pockets to find a handkerchief, Baekhyun was sneakily trying to pry open the bottles after shaking them. When he did, another bottle sprayed all over them and made Chanyeol flinch. He had begun to find that Chanyeol, though bigger and stronger than most kids, was a complete scaredy cat, a giant afraid of the tiniest things. He took no issue talking down to the boys who tossed stones to Baekhyun’s head yet couldn’t handle a little boo around a corner in the nighttime. 

Chanyeol jumped and tried to find the bottle it was spraying out of but Baekhyun had retreated behind the bench and Chanyeol was left half blind with all the pop in his eyes. Eventually, he stood up and started chasing a blurry figure that was giggling uncontrollably. 

“Get that bottle back here!” He said but Baekhyun kept running circles around the bench, making Chanyeol look like a fool for chasing him around. 

“Baekhyun! We wasted like all our money on drinks we didn’t even drink!”  
“And?” Baekhyun asked before he popped off another cap and this time, sprayed the fizzy drink directly onto Chanyeol’s green t-shirt. 

The older gave up by raising his hands up in surrender. He pretended to wince, be stung by the spurring drink that Baekhyun kept launching at him.  
“Oh I’m so hurt! You win, Baekkie!” 

“I hope I did!” Baekhyun said and finally put down the now empty bottle.  
The boys panted with dopey smiles on their little faces. Baekhyun chuckled at how drenched Chanyeol was while he remained mostly unscathed. 

“Not fair. You only soaked your pants.” Chanyeol huffed.  
“I’d say that’s a worse place to be wet.”  
“Whatever. My parents are gonna kill me. How will this wash out?”  
Baekhyun clicked his tongue and took Chanyeol’s damp hand into his. 

“C’mon. I have a better idea.”

In Chanyeol’s backyard, Baekhyun had hung some leftover Christmas lights across a few trees and put Chanyeol’s wet clothing on those. Now Chanyeol was in his pajamas as the sun was setting quickly. He lounged on a chair by their firepit and urged Baekhyun to join. 

“You don’t need to keep checking on my clothes like a mother hawk. They’ll dry.”  
“Just making sure.” Baekhyun said kindly. 

Baekhyun moved a lawn chair closer to Chanyeol’s so he could better watch what the older boy drew on his clear paper. His eyes followed his veiny hands every move like a curious puppy. Chanyeol took notice and chuckled lightly at his interest. 

“You like drawing?”  
“No. I like watching.”

“Then we make a good match.” Chanyeol said, “You like watching me.”  
Baekhyun nodded wordlessly and Chanyeol’s sore hands got back to work. He sketched the final soft and round edges of the clouds above before grabbing a different pencil. This one was sharper, used for defined lines instead of gentle ones like those above. 

“See?” Chanyeol gestured to the simple figure floating amongst the clouds with a delicate pair of white wings, “It’s you.”

“Oh stop.” Baekhyun murmured and tried to hide a furious red blush that could illuminate the dark sky. 

Chanyeol shifted Baekhyun from his own chair onto his, it was a bit of a tight fit but it let him snuggle Baekhyun so he didn’t mind if his legs were almost falling off. 

“But I’m…”  
“An angel.”  
Baekhyun breathed in peacefully, gazing at the simple black and white drawing with content.  
“You think so?”  
“Baekkie.” Chanyeol said firmly, “I know so.”

All was peaceful in that warm moment until the backdoor slid open and Chanyeol’s dad ushered his son in. Chanyeol looked dejected but his dad stood firm, not a single muscle moving. 

“I have to go.” Chanyeol reluctantly pulled away from their embrace.  
“That’s okay. I have to go home as well.”  
“Can you really walk alone? What if someone wants to pick on you?” Chanyeol said in fear.  
But Baekhyun waved it off with a relaxed demeanor, “It’s only a few minutes. I’m okay.”

Soon enough, his friend was making his way out the front gate and onto the sidewalk where Chanyeol lost sight once he was moved inside. His father had a hand on his back as he led him up the carpeted staircase. 

“Just a few more minutes?” Chanyeol begged.  
“No. It's already way past your bedtime.”  
“I’m not a toddler.”  
“But you’re still a kid waking up at seven in the morning for school. Off to your room.”

Though Chanyeol sulked and dragged his feet, he eventually made his way inside his bedroom and flopped down on his solar system inspired sheets. Most things in his room were inspired by the world above. He had all the planets hanging above his bed, a starry night wallpaper and plenty of advanced, college astronomy books he struggled to comprehend but still tried to study anyway.

“By the way, son.” His father spoke outside the door, “You’ve really spent quite the time with Baekhyun.”

“So?” 

“You can understand him so well. Strange. How often do you hang out?”  
Chanyeol flipped over so his back was facing his dad. He fiddled his thumbs under the blankets and groaned. 

“A lot?”

“Hmph.” His dad said quietly, “So it seems. So it seems.”

Once his door was shut, Chanyeol whipped out his classic Gameboy from underneath the pillows and turned the mini console on. He didn’t like to miss out on the midnight stars, that’s when he found the sky most beautiful, when all he could see was shining dots lighting up the simple neighbourhood. 

And he may have been more giddy than usual, more excited to be awake with his mind running around with thoughts of one boy singing humble melodies with a turtle in his lap. 

On the long anticipated day of returning tests, Baekhyun seemed nonchalant about the results all the other students were gossiping about. The teacher stacked the papers in a neat pile for standing up to distribute the tests. Baekhyun hummed a little melody he heard from this morning on a Disney cartoon he watched while munching on breakfast. It was bland, tasteless toast and some unsalted eggs as his mother drowned down a veggie smoothie and coffee but it's what he was used to.  
When the teacher came across Baekhyun, she lowered her head and chose to not even say his name once she put the test face down on his table. Baekhyun picked it up and gawked at the ugly red mark near his name. 

03/30  
Come see me after class. 

At the little note, Baekhyun’s hands started shaking but he fought himself to ignore that fear. Beside him, Chanyeol was being praised for his excellent knowledge of a topic he just started learning about. For a newbie, he was being accepted quite easily by the teachers, impressed by his big mind. 

But for Baekhyun, they never completed him on anything, not even his heavenly voice in the boys choir because apparently, he couldn’t enunciate the words clearly enough. They’d excuse him for the Latin songs but for the Korean ones? The whole choir ensemble looked at him with disgust when he mixed the words together like he was rinsing his mouth and trying to sing at once. 

“Hey, Baekkie! What did you get?” Chanyeol asked with enthusiasm.  
“Oh. Bad. But it's okay. I’ll do better next time.” Baekhyun replied with the test pressed against his own beating heart. 

“It’s okay. I know math is not your best.” 

That little reassurance let Baekhyun breathe easier but it wasn’t enough to cover up the growing fear of there possibly being something else wrong with him that his mother wouldn’t speak of. It made little sense for him to be getting such low grades in English and Math's when he was so excellent in arts. Young Baekhyun couldn’t comprehend how he failed to do well when he tried so hard, probably harder than everyone else yet still crashed miserably. 

His mind was taken off it by the new lesson which he listened to carefully. But only for a little while because he knew the teacher was waiting for his excuse after class. 

When that time did arrive, Baekhyun stayed behind in his seat while the other students piled out. Chanyeol was caught up in a group of sporty boys, curious to play some tag with him outside that he didn’t hear Baekhyun call out his name gently. 

“Baekhyun.” She said coldly, “Come here.”

Baekhyun lifted from his chair and stood like a quivering leaf during a windstorm in front of the intimidating, older woman who gave him a very bored look.  
“Is this a joke? Do you do this on purpose?”  
“What? I try really hard!” 

“Slower Baekhyun, for next time. The evidence says otherwise. You don’t take notes, you keep singing during lessons and you always bomb the tests. It seems to me like you don’t care.”

“But I do care!” Baekhyun couldn’t find more words to express himself with so he went to dig through his bag and dump all his textbooks on her organized desk.  
“But can you even read them? Do you understand anything?”

Baekhyun was caught in a silent trap, where he refused to answer because he knew it would only disappoint her further. His lips trembled and she grew impatient. 

“Spit it out, boy. I don’t have all day.”

“I don’t! I don’t understand.”

“Well.” She shrugged, “I wonder if even if you did understand you would care, all you care about is losing focus in class.”  
“But I try really really hard.” He argued.  
“I said speak slower. I don’t get it.”

“Oh so it's okay for you not to understand but when I don’t, it's bad?”

Baekhyun spluttered that out so fast that thankfully, she understood none of it.  
“I have no idea what you’re on about but listen, either get some proper tutoring or sharpen up your act. There’s no way you’ll be passing this class with these grades.”  
For an eleven year old to have to worry this much about passing basic subjects, subjects everyone should understand left him feeling dismayed. He felt alone, lost without Chanyeol’s strong voice and aura to bring comfort whenever someone spoke down to him. 

“You know the procedure, Baekhyun. Wrists on the table.”

Baekhyun wordlessly nodded with some tears lining his pretty brown eyes and lifted his sleeves up to his elbow. He displayed his porcelain white skin to the teacher who without much care, grabbed a hard, wooden ruler and slammed it down to his wrists. He flinched and shut his eyes tight but remained silent, he knew how much she hated it when he whined. 

The slaps to the wrist kept coming and they were slowly turning more pinkish by the second. Baekhyun knew this behavior wasn’t outlawed though he didn’t hear or know many others who had been put through it. Then again, he didn’t know many others in general. 

Once it was done, she cleared her throat and returned back to grading some papers. Without ushering him a proper goodbye, Baekhyun took the cue to grab his pink backpack and leave the classroom, his white sleeves pulled down as far as it could go to hide the shame of the hitting. 

Baekhyun stood in front of the round mirror of his bathroom and took in a deep breath. Maurice was taking his nightly swim in the bathtub alongside some rubber duckies but he was quiet, for he was only a small turtle. 

“I’m different and that’s okay.” He said sternly. 

He was in nothing but a white bathrobe after his warm shower. The door was creaked open and some faint sounds from the living crept in. After Baekhyun flossed his teeth and rinsed his mouth, he was about to hear outside but he heard his mother on the phone and crouched down to peek through the door so she wouldn’t notice him. 

“You need to send more child support. These tests cost me a fortune.”

He couldn’t hear what the other line said but all he saw was his mother becoming frustrated. 

“In the end, this is your son. You may not want to be involved with him but the least you could do is help. If you want to see him someday, the fixed version of him then send some money. Help me pay for those tests and help him get a tutor so he’s not like this forever.” 

Baekhyun fell to the cold ground. He shuffled the wet towel off of his freshly washed hair and shut the door. He sat on the floor feeling dejected and unwanted. He could only assume she was talking to his father but he didn’t know his name, where he lived or what he did since she talked so little. If his dad only wanted to see the fixed ‘version’ of him, was he not good enough already?

Baekhyun didn’t know how to answer that, only knew he felt a painful tug on his heavy heart and a yearn for some comfort. He wouldn’t find that at home. 

He was about to head out the window when he remembered, Chanyeol’s parents were home and they wouldn't take too kindly to the loner kid asking for their son to hang out late into the night. Baekhyun crawled back inside the bathroom and sighed. 

He exited and grabbed his cellphone from the dining table, his mother gave a faint acknowledgement with a little hello but nothing else. He took the phone, grabbed Maurice from once he finished his daily swim and headed for his little room to sink himself into the comfy pink sheets he always loved snuggling up in. 

Once buried under the hot covers, he dialed Chanyeol’s number and not even a few rings in, his friend already answered. 

“Hello?”

“Chanyeol? Oh hi.”

“Hey, Baekkie.” Chanyeol’s tone turned sweet, “What are you doing?”  
“In bed. Missing you.”

“Would you be happy if I told you… I’m doing the same, except I have my Gameboy. Keeps me company when you’re not here.”  
“You snuggle with the Gameboy?”  
“No. It's not cozy enough. I took one of the plushies you left in the treehouse, though.”

Baekhyun gasped, “Honey?”  
“Yup. Took him.”

It was a bear cub, fluffy and light brown with beady black eyes. It had a little red ribbon tied into a bow around his neck. One night after Baekhyun went home, Chanyeol spotted the fuzzy thing and carried it to his bed, wishing it were someone else. 

“He’s really nice.”  
“Oh, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun said, lost for words he was so flattered, “Take good care of him. My uncle gave it to me when I was born.”

“I will.” Chanyeol mindlessly played with the bear's paws in his bed, “One day, we’ll snuggle him together.”  
“You don’t like Honey?”

“Oh no I like him. But I also like you. Wanna hug both of you guys.”

Baekhyun crept his hand to his heart, his chest was very warm, most likely because of the sheets above but he thought of a different reason. It may not have been plausible but with how much Chanyeol was making him smile so much it hurt and blush like a beet, he wouldn’t not consider it.

“One day, Baekkie. I’ll hug you and never let go.”  
“Let that be soon, Chanyeol. Please.”  
Not intentionally, Baekhyun let some words slip that got Chanyeol immediately nervous. 

“I’m scared.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know some thoughts!


	3. Time - 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be a time skip. Sorry to leave it on a cliff hanger :)

“Do you have other friends?” Baekhyun asked.   
Chanyeol looked down to his best friend who was smiling at him sweetly. Chanyeol ruffled his fluffy black hair and chuckled.   
“Well, Insung has been really interested in me lately.”  
“Oh.” Baekhyun huffed, “In what way?”  
“What?” Chanyeol said. 

They were relaxing on the beach near their coastal town and throwing little pebbles into the water. But Baekhyun started feeling bad for the pebbles in case they felt pain so Chanyeol had stopped. They now sat on a mossy log, with the warm August waves occasionally brushing their open toes in their matching pink sandals. Baekhyun had been singing quietly while they relaxed on the log and it nearly sent Chanyeol to sleep listening to his soft delicate vocie.  
Baekhyun huffed again and pouted, the thing that always makes Chanyeol’s heart melt in an ice cream scoop in the summer. 

“Well, does he kiss your cheek?”

Chanyeol paused for a second, not clearly understanding all the words. He always felt bad for asking Baekhyun to repeat since he knew the boy was tired of it.   
“Does he what my cheek?”

“Kiss!” Baekhyun said and then pursed his lips. 

“Oh kiss?” Chanyeol’s eyes went wide, “Oh no no. He just wants me as a friend.”  
“He better. Only I kiss your cheek, okay?” Baekhyun said as he pulled Chanyeol closer to his face by the scruff of his black tank top.

Chanyeol chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. He still felt shy whenever they were this close, even if he knew Baekhyun did this as intimidation, Chanyeol couldn’t feel less threatened. Baekhyun was simply too small and too cute to be scared of, even when trying to be serious.

So Chanyeol couldn’t help but laugh. 

“I’m serious!” 

“Okay okay, Baekkie. Only you kiss my cheek.”

The shorter calmed down and leaned into Chanyeol to place a quick peck on his cheek. Chanyeol blushed red but the kiss was cut short when Baekhyun pulled back and spat some spit out to the shore. 

“You’re so cold! Your cheek tastes like salt!”

While Baekhyun was rubbing his pink lips with the back of his wrist, Chanyeol took the opportunity to catch him off guard and pick him up in his arms. Baekhyun immediately squealed and punched at Chanyeol’s chest playfully to put him down but Chanyeol refused. 

“You’re feisty aren’t you?”  
“Yeah! I’m a tiger!”   
“Hmph.” Chanyeol smiled in content, “C’mon. I’ll take you home.”

Chanyeol came to the front door of Baekhyun’s home at the same time as his mother. Baekhyun’s mother found Chanyeol and immediately raised her slender shoulders. She eyed the boys from head to toe and glared at Chanyeol.   
“Oh hi mom!” Baekhyun giggled but then went back to burying his head into Chanyeol’s neck. 

“You're a new friend? Chanyeol if I remember?”  
“Oh hi Mrs. Byun! We’ve gotten pretty close.” Chanyeol chuckled, “I just came to drop him off. I need to get going. Homework and stuff.”

“Good idea. How about to put him to the ground and leave him with me.”  
“Oh don’t worry I can put him on the couch!” Chanyeol offered innocently, “We’ve been walking across the beach all day so his feet need some rest.”

“He’s not a baby. He can walk five steps into his own house.” Mrs. Byun said with a bitter voice. 

Chanyeol felt small under her watchful gaze and with the faintest peck to Baekhyun’s lips, he put the boy down gently and Baekhyun whispered a thank you into his ear. He stood on his tippy toes to even reach his ear but Baekhyun didn’t mind, that unusual height made him feel protected. 

“Go home, Chanyeol.” His mother said with no room for argument. 

So even though Baekhyun was disappointed, he had to say goodbye to his friend who leisurely walked to his home and Baekhyun had to follow his mother inside. Once in the foyer, she threw down all her stuff and glared at Baekhyun. Her son raised a brow and clasped his little hands together behind his back, feeling tiny and scrutinized under her pissed off mood. 

“What did I say about getting close with the kids? Haven’t I told you before what they’re like?” 

“But mom!” Baekhyun whined, “Chanyeol is different! He doesn’t mock me!”  
“And what makes you so sure that he’ll stay that way? Baekhyun you know that you’re different. So different I don’t know if anyone will really love you.”  
Her words made Baekhyun sniffle and he felt even worse for his emotions when he heard her disapproving scoff. 

“Oh man up. Son, you’ve got things other kids don’t accept. Before you know it, Chanyeol will turn his back on you, he’ll ridicule you in front of the other kids and then what? Do I now need to go to school and talk with the teachers about how you’re being bullied? Let go of Chanyeol.”

“No! Mom that never happened before! This is the first true friend I have and you want him away from me.” Baekhyun’s pout got stronger and his tears fell faster, “How can I know about friends if you don’t even give me a chance to have them?”

“Because people disappoint you, even the ones you think you like.”

“But I like him, mom! I really really really like him! I don’t know, but I think I love him. Like I feel so many things with him.” Baekhyun began pleading.   
“Son, you’re too young to understand love. You’ve never had a friend before so you’re confusing this feeling with love. Believe me, whether it comes to love or friendship, people disappoint, they crush your heart. To avoid those feelings happening one day, just avoid people all together.”

“But that’s not how I wanna live my life!” 

When her son spoke back like that, it made Mrs. Byun stop in her tracks. 

“You may cut yourself off from people because dad left but that’s not how I wanan live! I’m strong, mom! I’ll go through this all if I have to. But I know in my heart, Chanyeol is not one of those people!”

Mrs. Byun merely scoffed and rolled her eyes at her weeping son. 

“You’re too young, son. Come back to me when you’re fifteen or something.”  
She headed to her bedroom and slammed the door, making Baekhyun shake uncontrollably at the door. He looked around the house and waited for his mother to come out but she never did. He glanced at the analog clock on the stove and saw that an hour had passed and he had done nothing but wait and whimper.   
A frightening thought passed through his head which made him jolt back, scared of how he could even think of that but with the threat of losing Chanyeol, his only real friend, he considered it. 

How could you forbid a child from friends? From new experiences? From exploring the world and most importantly, from love? Baekhyun had to find himself, and if that meant what he thought it did, then so be it. Finally feeling companionship and comfort fill the void of loneliness felt too precious to give up. 

While his mother slept soundly in her room, her son was scavenging around the house for his essentials. He eventually settled on his rock collection, his favorite clothes, some books he was trying to comprehend and of course, his beloved turtle.   
With his pet in his arms and a backpack suited up, Baekhyun entered out the backdoor to their yard and within a few minutes was at Chanyeol’s fence. He could see Chanyeol upstairs walking around his room with some homework in hand so he grabbed some stones and threw them into the window. 

It alerted his friend and he lifted the window to see Baekhyun, standing impatiently and nervous like something was chasing him. 

“Baekhyun?”

“Let me in! I need to talk to your mom and dad!” 

Worried and in fear, Chanyeol raced out of his room, down the stairs and into the living room where his parents were relaxing watching some drama. They arose from the couch, concerned with their son's running but they found out why when he opened the door and Baekhyun ran into his arms. 

The boys simply embraced for a few minutes, Chanyeol rubbing his nape and playing with his hair to calm his shaking friend down. Baekhyun cried into Chanyeol’s button down pajama top but their son didn’t mind, he was there for comfort whenever Baekhyun needed it.

“Baekhyun?” Mrs. Park asked softly, “What’s this all about?”  
“Mom… She wants me to leave Chanyeol.”  
“Why, sweetie?”

“Chanyeol will hurt me. Chanyeol will become like the other kids and bully me.”  
With Baekhyun buried into Chanyeol’s chest, his parents couldn’t make out a single word so Chanyeol silently mouthed it to them. 

“Baekhyun.” Chanyeol said with a deep voice when he lifted Baekhyun’s face by the cheeks and stared into his glossy eyes, “I swear to never become one of them. I will always be by your side, be your knight and fend them away from you. Baekkie, I’m not them.”

“Mom says how do I know? You may disappoint me. But I don’t believe that. You love me, right?”

“Of course I love you.” Chanyeol didn’t care that his parents were watching this intimate moment, he layed a sweet kiss atop Baekhyun’s head and let the younger snuggle further into his arms. Chanyeol heard his father gasp when the turtle came and laid across his feet but his mother shushed him. 

“Can I stay with you?” Baekhyun asked.   
“Yes.”   
“No.” Chanyeol’s father immediately corrected his son.   
“Why not, dad?”  
“Because, son… Baekhyun is a friend, we cannot take on another child. He has his home, his mother that takes care of him.”  
“But I don’t like her!”

“Whatever he just says doesn’t matter, even if he wants to be here, he can’t. She has parenting rights over him.” Mr. Park stated. 

“Can’t we say that’s she’s mean to him?” Chanyeol begged, “They’ll understand right? Then put him with us?”

But the look he got from his parents gave him the answer right away. They spared one last to each other before his mother bent down to her knees and sighed, Chanyeol quickly knew what that meant. 

“No! Don’t explain it to me! It's unfair! He doesn’t like her so he shouldn’t stay with her!”  
“Chanyeol that’s not-”

Shortly after his mother began, Mrs. Byun came through the door they had left open with a deep scowl. Mrs. Park got up to her feet and came face to face with a furious, overprotective mother.

Mrs. Byun grabbed Baekhyun by the backpack and tugged him back to her. Chanyeol came forward and Baekhyun tried to break free but she held him tight in her arms. No matter how much he kicked or tried to bite her hands, the bitter mother wouldn’t let go. 

“Whatever your son has turned Baekhyun into I’m not okay with it. My boy has never acted like this before, and I’m not accepting him changing all for your kid.”  
“With all due respect,” Mrs. Park began, “They are very close. Wouldn’t it be harsh to split them up? Obviously he can’t live here but let them see each other.”  
“Already have a disabled son who can’t learn shit but now he’s loving another boy? Do you know how hard it is already to explain him to others? To parade myself around town with this mistake?”

“Don’t call him that!” Chanyeol shouted but she didn’t even spare him a glance.   
“I have to be the mother of the outcast, the kid nobody likes or wants to play with. I have to work extra hard every day and night to make money for his tutoring which he never learns from. I have to beg my ex to send more money since I can’t take care of him on my own. Do you know how the townsfolk see me? I’m the failure of a mother with an even more pathetic son.”

Baekhyun grew tired of fighting in his mother’s arms and when Chanyeol’s parents said nothing, he started losing hope he’d get his wish of living with Chanyeol.   
“Well I certainly disagree but,” Mrs. Park said quietly, “I see how you’d come to that.”

“I’m taking him home. Getting this little, fling off his mind. It’ll never work.”  
Without a kind goodbye, she carried Baekhyun out of the neighbors house and Chanyeol started chasing after but his father stopped him and the door shut. Chanyeol bit hard onto his father’s hand and hissed when he scolded him.   
“I hate you! You didn’t even fight for him!” 

“He’s not my son! I only have one care for you!”   
“What if he could be? Dad, I wanna marry him! He’ll be your son-in-law.”  
“Oh now you’re just talking crazy. No one meets their spouse at fucking eleven.”   
His mother slapped his arms but he didn’t flinch. 

“Baekhyun’s mother has ownership of him, accept that and move on.”  
“But he’s hurting, dad. I wanna help.” Chanyeol sulked.   
“Sometimes, we wanna help but we can’t. Some people have too many problems, they’re already far gone.”

A week after the event, Chanyeol had purposely avoided Baekhyun’s house since his father would snarl each time he stared at the home too long when walking to school. But one peaceful evening, he was strolling back home and noticed heaps of boxes, trucks and men lifting our furniture from the home. Chanyeol jumped over the fence and ran inside the home which shocked Mrs. Byun. 

“What are you doing here?”  
“You can’t move.”  
“Yeah I can.”

“Never! You can’t take Baekhyun away from me because you don’t like our relationship!” 

“And who gave you custody?” She scoffed, “I decide what is best for me and Baekhyun. Not you.”

Chanyeol felt broken and lost at that moment, even though he tried to stop the movers and explain the situation, they wouldn’t listen. At that time, he felt like a ghost, nothing but a soul floating around that no one saw, listened to or cared about. He wasn’t considered in this whole situation, even if he loved Baekhyun.   
“You know. Call me when you’re an adult, maybe then you and Baekhyun can talk but for now, you’re both children, and you especially have no right to decide how and where we live our life.” 

“But it's the life you want. Not Baekhyun’s wish.” Chanyeol said quietly but once again, she didn’t answer. 

“I’m not heartless you know? You see Baekhyun, he’s in the yard.”

Chanyeol needed no more encouragement to run outside and see his friend sitting on the grass while petting Maurice who was still in his lap. When Chanyeol came closer, Baekhyun heard but didn’t turn back. 

“I hear you, Chanyeol. I’ll miss you so much.”  
Chanyeol took a seat next to Baekhyun and rubbed his shoulers.   
“How about I cross my heart and make a promise.”  
“What is it?”

“When I’m older, I will find you. And once I find you, you, me, Maurice and all your stuffies will find a piece of land and we’ll build a home there.”

“You’d really say that?” Baekhyun started smiling a little.

“Of course. Because I love you. And another promise, I will not date anyone else, I will save my love for you. For I want you to be my husband.”  
“Oh Chanyeol, stop.” Baekhyun giggled, “But I want it to.”

“Well then let’s cross our hearts, that’ll be our wedding rings for now.”

They sat hand in hand with their foreheads touching. In that tender moment, Baekhyun forgot about the move and opened his eyes to see the horizon of a meadow, and looked to Chanyeol and imagined him older. In his vision, they were sitting on their front porch and staring at the land they lived on. Baekhyun didn’t know when, or how they’d do it but they would.  
They promised, so they’d keep that and wait for each other until they fulfilled that promise. 

“I will see you again, Baekkie. One day.”

And just like it did a few months ago, Baekhyun’s life changed drastically. Except this time it wasn’t because he met his first true love, it was because he was sending him goodbye wishes, knowing this may be the last time they speak for who knows who many lonely years to come. 

And frankly, Baekhyun didn’t know how he would survive waiting until they’ve reunited. 

"Chanyeol. Take care of the treehouse for me while I'm gone. It's my wish."


End file.
